OAK Confirms Lineup for Rolex 24, Full Season Commitment

Photo: John Dagys

OAK Racing confirmed Monday its first three drivers for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Team veteran Olivier Pla will be joined for the twice-around-the-clock endurance classic by Roman Rusinov and Gustavo Yacaman, the latter who has been confirmed for a full-season program with the French squad.

The trio, as well as the team’s 2013 FIA WEC LMP2 co-champion Martin Plowman, handled testing duties of the Morgan-Nissan P2 car earlier this month at the Roar Before the Rolex 24.

It’s expected that the G-Drive-backed Rusinov will contest only the Rolex 24 with OAK, while Pla will likely split his driving duties between the TUDOR Championship and OAK’s to-be-determined program in the FIA WEC.

“The team knows the car inside out and the results from the 2013 season proved its speed and reliability,” said team principal Philippe Dumas. “In addition, we have a well-balanced team with three very good drivers. So we can reasonably hope for a top-three finish at Daytona and we have an excellent chance of achieving success in this new championship.”

Yacaman joins OAK following a season with Michael Shank Racing in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series. The Colombian claimed a podium finish in his sports car racing debut in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2012, also at the wheel of a MSR Riley-Ford DP.

“I had a great time at the Daytona test in the beginning of January,” Yacaman said. “It took me a little bit of time to adapt to the car but with all of my single-seater experience, this didn’t take too long. I really enjoy driving the Morgan-Nissan LMP2 car and working with a team as professional as OAK Racing was a tremendous pleasure.”

A fourth driver for Daytona will be named in the coming days.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John